Mahindra bags prototype contract for US postal delivery van

Mahindra has bagged a $11 million prototype contract from the US Govt. for next-gen postal delivery vehicles. Mahindra Automotive North America will deliver 14 prototypes for approval by November, 2017.

According to media reports, the prototypes will be built in Detroit and will be delivered for road-testing in two phases. The first batch of eight prototypes will be delivered in September and the remaining six by November. If approved, Mahindra will have to build 1.8 lakh vehicles over a six year period. The price of each vehicle is expected to be around $35,000 and also a maintenance and repair contract will be awarded.

Four other manufacturers - AM General, VT Hackney, Oshkosh Corporation and Turkish commercial vehicles manufacturer Karsan are also in the race for the $6 billion order.

Mahindra was shortlisted to develop a Next-Gen Delivery Vehicle for the US Postal Service in 2016. Proposals from six manufacturers were shortlisted and were asked to develop prototypes within a year. The project is being handled by Mahindra's North American Technical Center in Michigan.

Source: ET Auto